Starlight Champion
by Lily Rasputin

I wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear the melodious sounds heralding Harouth’s arrival. After all, the buzzing in the base of my skull had been going off for almost ten minutes. More than enough time to extricate myself from whatever mundane task I was doing and change.

As the air next to me began to warble and shimmer, I sighed and put down the makeup brush, turning in my chair to face the interdimensional portal. A moment later, there was a soft pop as the pressure in the room shifted for a moment, and the creature responsible for changing my life blinked into existence.

“Fair warrior,” Harouth said, gently drifting down to land on my vanity. “Did you not feel the summons?”

I nodded, taking a moment to peek at my watch. I had twenty minutes before James was due to arrive. Plenty of time.

“I did. It’s kind of hard not to when it goes off inside your head, you know.”

The creature that looked like a cross between a fox and an otter scrunched up its tiny face in an anthropomorphic expression of annoyance.
“Why did you not answer it then? Molavara needs the Champion.” Then it blinked those huge, dark pink eyes several times, finally seeming to actually notice my appearance. “What are you wearing?”

I glanced down at the pleated skater skirt and V-neck sweater. “Um, a cute outfit?”

Those shocked eyes widened. “Where is your uniform?”

My head nodded in the direction of the closet. “Hanging up.”

Apparently this took a moment or two to process as Harouth continued to look from me to the closet and back. “But … I do not understand. How can it be hanging up in your closet? It appears upon transformation and disappears when you change back.”

I nodded as I turned back to the lighted mirror, picked up the brush, and resumed blending the blush on my cheeks. “Yes. I’m aware of how the magic works, Harouth.”

“But I do not understand …”

There was no need to look over to know the creature was having a hard time putting all the pieces together. You’d think an eternal magical being of immense power would be a bit faster on the uptake. Guess there were some things that were so outlandishly impossible to fathom they defied the ability to be readily quantified.

Setting down the brush, I picked up the tube of mascara. “I never changed back.”

“What!??!”

Sighing, I cut my eyes over at Harouth. “After I defeated Queen Joplin and returned to Earth, I didn’t change back into my previous form.”

Harouth took to the air again, moving to hover directly in front of my face. “You did not change back? Why not? The threat was over. There was no need for the Starlight Champion to remain.”

I shrugged. “Because I’m a lot happier like this.”

It shook its spade-shaped head. “I do not understand. This is completely unprecedented. The protocols are very explicit. An Earth Human is chosen to be the Starlight Champion and is transformed to answer the call to defend the realm of Molavara and its territories from the Forces of Darkness. When that is done, they return to Earth and resume their previous life and form until needed again. This has been the way for centuries.”

“Probably,” I said, leaning around him to apply the makeup to my exquisitely long lashes. Of all the physical bonuses that came with accepting the Starlight Power, I think I liked my eyes the best. Not only were my lashes exquisite, but the blue hue of my irises was also so intense that I was constantly being asked if I was wearing special contacts. “However, I’m not like the Champions that came before me.”

Harouth drifted over to block my view again. “You are an Earthling Human, are you not? I fail to see how you are any different from the others.”

I put the top back on the mascara and looked at the hovering creature. “Are you serious? Do all Earthling Humans look the same to you?”

“Well, not exactly the same. I have learned that your species comes in a variety of colors and sizes. But that is to be expected given your diverse physiology.”

I laughed. “You’re joking, right? Harouth, are you saying that when you came and recruited me last year, nothing about me struck you as different from all the others you empowered before?”

Those pink eyes narrowed, studying my face before moving down to examine the rest of me. Then that head shook again. “Nothing that should be of consequence. You were obviously more enhanced in a physical manner. Larger, I mean. You were also the only one who had fur growing on their face.”

“Yes. That’s because I was a boy.”

Harouth’s tiny brows wrinkled. “A boy? What does that mean? Is being a boy different than being a human?”

I smiled and shook my head. “A boy is a type of human. See, humans not only come in a variety of colors and sizes, but we also come in a variety of genders.”

“What is a gender?”

I glanced at my watch again. Did I have time to explain basic human anatomy to a magical creature from another dimension?

Standing up, I pointed at myself, the finger circling around my perky (and quite generous) breasts and then down to the area behind the skirt that no longer contained that hated appendage that used to provide me with an endless stream of dysphoria.

“This body is called a girl. Girl is the gender. The body I had before lacked these.” I pointed to my breasts again. “And had what is known as a penis. It is the male sex organ.”

“What is male?”

“Oh, boy. Okay, so different names for the genders. A male is a boy when they’re younger and a man when they get to a certain age. A female is a girl when they’re younger and a woman once they get older. Of course, there are some humans that are neither male nor female and some that are both.”

Harouth frowned. “I think I see. So, you were a boy male human when you were bestowed with the power of the Starlight Champion, which had the effect of not only empowering you with the magic of the Starlight Crystal but changing your gender from boy male human to girl female human. Is this assessment correct?”

I shrugged. “Close. But I wasn’t a boy male human. I was a, uh, transgender female girl human.”

“Explain.”

I pointed at my body. “Before I accepted your offer, I had the body of a boy male human, but the mind and soul of a girl female human.” Using the triple noun phrase seemed ridiculous, but I didn’t want to confuse Harouth anymore than the little being already was. “Think of it as being stuck in a body that is not the right one. I hated myself before you arrived in my bedroom that night. I had even considered just ending my own life to escape the pain.”

Harouth’s mouth dropped open in shock and revulsion. “You would have self-terminated had I not selected you to be the new Starlight Champion?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. I was certainly contemplating it. Then you showed up and pretty much granted my greatest wish. So, thanks for that. I guess.”

“But the Champion is not supposed to be the Champion all the time.” Harouth fluttered about, shaking its head. “You should have transformed back as soon as you returned.”

I shrugged again. “Well, technically I did. I had to prove to my parents who I was.”

To its credit, Harouth’s face grew even more shocked. “You told your human guardians?”

“Sure. I had to show them that I was really their child. I mean, they already knew I was trans, but when I proved that the Starlight Power had made me a cis girl, they were just as happy as I was.”

“This will not do at all. You have broken the sacred pact by revealing your secret identity to others, and behaved in a manner completely unbefitting for a Starlight Champion. I hereby revoke your title.”

Harouth waved one of his paws in the air, and a bolt of sheer terror ripped through me. To have been given my lifelong dream, only to have it taken away, was a fate worse than death. I’d already considered something like this happening and knew without question that I wouldn’t be able to go back to my old life.

A bolt of pinkish energy shot out from the end of the paw, striking me in the dead center of my chest. I let out an anguished gasp and waited to feel my body expand back into its former masculine appearance.

Only … it didn’t.

“Curious,” Harouth remarked.

I glanced down to see I was still as femininely voluptuous as I’d been a second ago. I looked over to see Harouth scratching its head in confusion as to why they’d failed to withdraw my power. Then it hit me, and I began to giggle.

“I do not see the humor, Champion. You should be just another human after that.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” I said between titters.

It waved a paw at me again, and again the pink beam struck my body. Only this time, I didn’t flinch.

“This is not possible. This is the same spell I have used to take back the Starlight Power for centuries.”

I nodded. “How many of those girls were in their human form when you did?”

It shot me an annoyed look. “All of them. But I fail to see why that would make …” It’s voice drifted off as it came to the same realization I had.

“I might not be wearing the uniform, but I am still the Starlight Champion. Which means I still have the Starlight Powers. The most important of which is?”

Harouth drew in a breath and sighed. I didn’t even know he could do that. “The resistance to all magicks.”

“Yep. As long as I’m in this form, no spell can touch me or affect me. Which means you can’t depower me.”

Its face twisted into a mask of distraught. “But, if I cannot take back the power, and if you will not relinquish it, then Molavara is doomed. Our enemies will destroy us.”

I glanced over at the clock on the dresser. Then I looked back to the floating creature that seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As annoyed as I’d been at his arrival, I also had to admit that I owed the little creature my life.

Sighing, I picked up my phone and tapped out a quick message to James, asking him if I could push our date back two hours. I promised to make it extra special for him if he would.

When he responded that he was fine with that, I put the phone down and walked over to the closet.

“Where are you going?” Harouth asked, floating after me.

“To get changed. Molavara needs the Starlight Champion, right?”

Those pink eyes blinked in surprise. “Wait. You are answering the summons?”

I nodded as I pulled open the door and stepped into the small room. “So long as you agree to never try to depower me again.”

“I do not know what to say. Other than thank you.”

I took down the white, pink, and blue costume and held it up to my chest. In a flash of rainbow colored light, the uniform of the Starlight Champion had replaced my other clothing. A quick glance into the mirror on the back of the door confirmed that my hair, formerly loose around my shoulders, was braided into a warrior’s crown on my head.

I waved my hands in the air before me, and the Stellar Scepter appeared in my grip. The spear-like tip flashed with a kaleidoscope of power and hummed a melodious tune.

Twirling the weapon around with preternatural ease, I brought it down in a sweeping arc that carved the very air of my bedroom and created a large portal to another world. I glanced over at Harouth, grinned, and nodded at the tear in time and space.

“Come on. Let’s go save the realm.”

Author’s Note: This is a fun little snippet that popped into my head recently and wouldn’t go away until I wrote it. I may return to the Tale of the Starlight Champion someday when my other projects are complete.